Youth will be served when the Pittsburgh Penguins meet the Minnesota Wild in an NHL pre-season game Saturday, September 24 at 3 p.m. at CONSOL Energy Center. That’s because the Penguins will distribute 18,000 free tickets to kids ages 5-21 for the team’s second annual "Free Game For Kids."

The Penguins have traditionally played two home pre-season games each year, but, starting last season, they added a third game for the kids.

A benefit hockey game will be played at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Beaver County Ice Arena. (Brady's Run)

The all-star game, featuring varsity players from the Central Valley, Beaver, Blackhawk and Quigley hockey teams, will benefit the families of Jackie Kennedy and Connor Johnson, who were killed in an automobile accident on April 10. Jackie Kennedy, 18, was a senior at Ambridge High School and Connor, 21, was a former player for the Ambridge hockey team.

Admission is $5. There is no charge for those under age 12. Beaver County mite players will play in between periods of the varsity game.

Text GNC to 32623 to be entered be the 5000th person to do so and win 2 tickets to tonight's game

The Pens are making their way onto the CONSOL Energy Center ice for their 11 a.m. practice. The only missing person is goalie Brent Johnson (whose wife gave birth to a new baby!!!)

The Penguins, supporters of a ban on all hits to the head in the NHL, do not have enough support among the league's general managers to come away from meetings here with such a recommendation.

Instead, when the GM meetings wrap up Wednesday, there could well be consensus for a rule that goes beyond Rule 48 -- instititued a year ago to penalize blindside and lateral head hits.

"There's not support on a widespread basis for a blanket head-hit rule, but we are going to look to see if we can come up with a rule in addition to Rule 48 that focuses on dangerous hits, hits when a player is vulnerable or engaged with another player and a third player comes in, or where there's excessive force," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said today.

"We're going to see if we can get something more precise than a blanket head-hit rule, in part because we see how concussions are being caused."

Studies presented here have shown that most of the concussions sustained by NHL players this season have come from something other than hits to the head.

The focus also will shift to tougher enforcement of penalties such as boarding and charging in an effort to make the game safer.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby, who hasn't played since Jan. 5 because of a concussion, was scheduled to skate today for the second day in a row.

Coach Dan Bylsma confirmed that Crosby did not experience any concussion symptoms after going on the ice for about 15 minutes at Consol Energy Center Monday, and thus had medical clearance to skate again today.

If Crosby had developed a headache, dizziness or any other concussion-related problem, he would not have been allowed to repeat the admittedly light workout.

Lelands.com is a New York-based memorabilia auction house, and in December sold this Pittsburgh Penguins alternate jersey for $529.84.

It's an alternate jersey, but one the team never wore.

According to the item description, the jersey, designed by Pro Player, was slated to be the Pens' alternate look for the 2000-01 season. Pro Player supplied the Penguins with their jerseys, but before the 2000-01 season began, CCM/KOHO won the NHL license to supply every team.

Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Neal-Letestu-Kovalev
Talbot-Jeffrey-Dupuis
Rupp-Adams-Conner
(Godard-Kunitz)

The defensemen rotated throughout.

Dan Bylsma did it in 163 Games

The Penguins lost yet another center to injury tonight when Dustin Jeffrey left a game with Los Angeles at Consol Energy Center.

Jeffrey was driving the Kings net when he got upended by goaltender Jonathan Quick, flew over him and landed in the net at 6:11 of the second period.

He was slow getting up and skated slowly only on his own off the ice. The Penguins called it "a lower body injury" and said Jeffrey would not return to the game.

The Penguins already are without injured centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu.

Funniest thing I have ever read!!!

PHILADELPHIA -- Evgeni Malkin, who has missed the Penguins' past four games because of a knee injury, plans to be in uniform for their game against Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center tonight.

The first round of seats will be sold in pairs for $495 (shipping cost is additional). There will be approximately 4,800 pairs of seats. The sale to the general public begins on December 1. All seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at www.iglooseats.com. Requests for the purchase of specific seats will not be accepted. Due to their age, some of the Civic Arena seats contain lead-based paint. Prior to being shipped, the seats will be refurbished to remove the paint and to restore them to good working order for the enjoyment of the fans.

Marc-Andre Fleury of the Penguins will start in goal against Philadelphia at Consol Energy Center tonight.

Fleury, 1-4, is coming off a 5-3 defeat in Tampa Wednesday.

Vote for your top 5 from the games listed below and you could win a pair of tickets to the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field and a free box set of Pittsburgh Penguins Greatest Games, Vol. 2. Voting ends November 13, 2010, certain restrictions apply.

Art Ross Trophy (NHL scoring leader), Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP), youngest captain to lead his team to a Stanley Cup – and those are but a very small sampling of what Crosby has been able to achieve.

You can add another one to the list because Crosby was ranked No. 37 on AskMen.com’s '49 Most Influential Men of 2010' on Wednesday. It’s the fourth straight year Crosby has earned recognition on AskMen’s list.

"I am honored once again to be a part of this list and thank all the readers at AskMen that voted for me," Crosby told AskMen.com.

On Marc-Andre Fleury:
I don’t know the technical aspects of goaltending as well as (goaltending coach) Gilles (Meloche). Marc is a big goaltender, aggressive, confident, no overworking, going side-to-side, making big saves when he’s playing well. That’s something we have to see from him when he gets in there. We saw it in the preseason. He’s a big, confident goalie that’s out challenging with his angle and in control.

On if picking a goalie is a tough decision:
It’s one that you could spend a lot of time analyzing and looking at. It’s not one that I struggle with. We’ll see who we get tonight, but we’ll see who we get tonight. For our team and our guys, we’re confident when Johnny is in there. He’s played really well. We know Fleury will make big saves for us down the road.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Street Hockey USA will present the 2010 Penguins Fall Classic Street & Roller Hockey Tournament November 6-7 at Hot Shots Indoor Arena in Mt. Pleasant.

Competition will be held in the following divisions: Men’s D & Novice Street Hockey; Men’s Competitive Puck, Competitive Ball and Recreational Ball Roller Hockey.

Cost is $425 per team and each team is guaranteed three games.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Street Hockey USA will present the 2010 Penguins Power Play Street Hockey Tournament December 4-5 at Greater Pittsburgh DekHockey in Penn Hills.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Pittsburgh ICE which provides hockey gear and ice time to children in Pittsburgh.

Competition will be held in the following divisions: Men’s Open, D, Novice and 35-and-Over; Youth 7-9, 10-12 and 13-15. Youth divisions will be separated by skill level where possible. A player’s age as of January 1, 2010 determines eligibility.

Cost is $225 per team and each team is guaranteed three games.

With training camp entering its final week Staal still has not gone through any off-ice workouts -- let alone put a skate on his injured right foot -- and has no timetable for when he expects to be able to skate or play.

There have been a lot of ups and downs with this foot," Staal said Thursday. "I can't really put my finger on when I'll be back.

That sentiment was seconded by general manager Ray Shero, who said that, "personally, I don't have a timetable for him to come back."

Engelland, who played nine games with the Penguins last season, is one of several veterans along with Ben Lovejoy, Corey Potter, Andrew Hutchinson and Steve Wagner competing to make the opening day roster on defense. Also still in the mix, but more of longer shots, are a trio of younger blueliners – Robert Bortuzzo, Brian Strait and Simon Despres.

What each player has to do to give himself the best shot is pretty simple according to Bylsma.

"Each guy brings a different element," Bylsma said. "They have to get to their game and play their game. … If they play their game and play well, that gives them the best chance."

The Penguins hit the road for their second preseason game of year Friday, following Wednesday's 5-1 triumph over Detroit in the first-ever game played at CONSOL Energy Center. Both teams have unveiled their rosters for the contest.

Joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are forwards Jesse Boulerice, Chris Collins, Joey Haddad, Nick Petersen, Ryan Schnell, Zack Sill, Alex Smigelski, Keven Veilleux and Geoff Walker, defensemen Jason DeSantis, Derek Peltier and Carl Sneep and goaltender Patrick Killeen.

Forward Tyler Brown (Plymouth, Ontario Hockey League) and goaltender Alex Pechurskiy (Tri-City, Western Hockey League) were returned to their respective junior teams.

Fans seeking a chance to win an opportunity to buy tickets to the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic can go to www.nhl.com/winterclassictickets for Official Rules, complete details and to sign up for entry.

Registration for the general public, random ticket drawing will begin on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 2 p.m. ET and will run through Monday, October 11, 2010 at 11:59 a.m. ET. Registrations received after the deadline will not be accepted. There is no fee to register. Limit one entry per person or household. Registrants selected in the drawing will be notified by Tuesday, October 26, 2010 of their opportunity to purchase one pair of tickets (seated together) subject to seats available at time of purchase transaction.